Catch
by Icescale
Summary: He wasn't there to catch her on the last fall... his arms felt empty without anybody clumsy enough to fall into them. ShikaHina


This pairing was requested by a friend and I found it extremely cute. The plot was inspired by myself tripping over air. Heh, hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

-x-

"Hinata!"

Shikamaru dove into the water, desperately splashing, looking for the figure who had plummeted into the water.

His face was pale; his eyes itched from the saltiness, his breaths too short and quick.

His own body's cries were pushed aside; he needed to find her…

-x-

_Flashback:_

_The five year old __Shikamaru__ had his head lazily on the desk, his fingers entwined in the little spiky bundle of hair that defied the laws of gravity. He watched as the little kids around him noisily played and caused trouble._

_A bunch of __someones__ causing trouble._

_Troublesome._

_Shikamaru__ gave a sloppy smile, thinking of his new world. __Troublesome.__Hehehe_

_"A-__ano__…"_

_His thoughts were broken as a soft voice floated to his ears, the source close enough to hear above the chaos._

_He looked up to see a girl his age, with short dark hair and rosy cheeks. Her small fingers poked together and her head was tilted sideways._

_"I-I was wondering __i__-if I can sit h-here, g-__gomen__."_

_Her stutter was troublesome. He simply nodded his head before letting it fall back to the table.__A small screech of a chair being pulled back._

_"Eek!"_

_Shikamaru__ jumped up at the yell and found the little girl fall into his arms. Brushing aside her splutter of apologies, he helped the troublesome girl back into her seat._

-x-

Shikamaru dove under the water, forcing his eyes to stay open, flailing his arms outward.

Desperately, he forced his body weight to let him sink downwards, to the sea floor. His nails dug into the sand as he tried to keep from floating back up and half crawled, trying to cover as much distance before he would need to rise up for air.

Pinning himself, Shikamaru quickly undid his vest, lightening the weight so the kelp wouldn't tangle.

-x-

_From then on the two had become __inseparable__, side by side wherever they went._

_Shikamaru__ stayed with __Hinata__ for the fact that he knew she needed him._

_She was a walking disaster, and he was always there is she fell._

_To catch her in his arms, and if too far, he had used his genius to create a Shadow Possession technique._

_It took him three years to develop, much of which he spent at the library, reading every book he could get his little hands on._

_At the age of eleven his IQ had developed well over 200 and he had managed to develop his technique to keep his __clumsy__ friend safe._

_Hinata__ herself helped __Shikamaru__ as well. The lazy ninja often forgot to come to class, make lunch, or whatever a genius such as him deems too 'troublesome' to do._

_For the three years __Shikamaru__ learned his technique, she learned how to cook._

_So that when she __perfected__ her skills with culinary, she could make a bento for her beloved indolent friend._

-x-

Shikamaru gasped as he rose out of the water, his hair was damp and his face was chalky. He looked around, water in every direction. In the distance, but a few yards away, he saw a collection of jagged promontories, and on a particularly sharp one, a tint of blue could be seen.

Shikamaru gasped. "NO!"

He swam faster than ever before, only one thought in mind.

-x-

_Over the years, the two became closer. They went through childhood together, into adolescence and finally young adulthood._

_Both of them, unknowingly, developed an attraction. _

_Hinata__ started to blush a lot more when she fell into his strong arms, __Shikamaru__ pressing her close to his chest safely._

_Shikamaru__ himself started to notice that her __bentos__ tastes a lot better, and would tint with pink when they shared chopsticks._

_They both would flame as they watched the clouds together, side by side._

_It was strange, these new feelings, over the things they did together ever since they were five._

_But unfortunately, it was an unnoticed attraction._

-x-

Shikamaru's mesh shirt clung to his body as he reached the rocks.

Scarmbling over them, the many scars on his knees multiplied from the crawling on the ocean floor. There were enough wounds to cause pain, but pain was ignored as he tried to find his friend.

Shikamaru reached the apex of the rock he saw the blue tint on, and as he reached up to climb forward, a gash cut through from the rough surface to his tan skin. The crimson blood trickled down the buff brown surface and swirled into the green water.

Shikamaru closed his eyes, and pulled himself up, grunting as the weight was added to his injured arm. It didn't matter. He would go through death if it meant finding Hinata.

Newfound determination, Shikamaru perched on top of the rock, feeling himself slightly slip with the amount of water his shoes soaked up.

He carefully shifted so he faced the opposite and saw the familiar form of a drenched girl, her locks were sprawled and her lips tinged with blue.

Shikamaru lunged down, grabbing her by the tender skin underneath her arms and pulling her up.

His tears mixed with the salty droplets from his swim.

-x-

_Shikamaru__ never understood __Hinata's__ problems with her clan._

_The mighty __Hyuga__ had a lifestyle too troublesome for __himself__ to follow._

_Unlike her, he lived comfortably with his loving mother and father. He had it easy._

_So he never knew that she was breaking inside. He never knew that he was a horrible best friend for not keeping track of her health._

_Like the fact she stopped eating. __Sleeping._

_Like the fact that she was suffering heart problems. __And inner soul pain._

_He never knew._

_So you could understand his initial shock when he saw __Hinata__ plummet willingly into the dangerous waters below, with full attentions of dying._

_The worst part was__ he wasn't there to catch her this time._

-x-

He lifted her small body into his lap, holding her close and cradling her.

"Hinata… I am so s-sorry. Gomen. Hinata… Hina…"

His tears were more pronounced, and his lashes were sticky as he blinked back the water. He hugged her, wrapping his arms around her petite form, trying to share his warmth with her cold, limp figure.

In one desperate attempt, the broken hearted boy crashed his wet lips to her freezing blue ones, trying to give her the air to breath.

"Come on…"

"Come on…"

Shikamaru tried it again. Again. Nothing.

Nothing at all. It was too late.

He wasn't there to catch her last fall.

It was all his fault.

Shikamaru buried his face into the crook of her neck, sobbing.

"I love you, Hina… I love you so much… I lo- lov-"

Then he slowly lowered her back into the water, watching her hair part in locks as she drifted down.

He didn't take his eyes away from the spot she had sank, he didn't even try blinking back tears.

His breaths were occupied with sobs. His heart ached in his chest.

Was it from the lack of air? Or was it something else?

All he knew was that his arms would be empty without anybody troublesome enough to fall in them…


End file.
